Sneak Preview: 'How to Train Your Dragon' and other movies opening this week

Thursday

Mar 25, 2010 at 12:01 AMMar 25, 2010 at 7:50 PM

"How to Train Your Dragon" is pretty much an “Avatar” retread, but with better actors, a better story and far more interesting characters.

Al Alexander

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
This 3-D toon is pretty much an “Avatar” retread, but with better actors, a better story and far more interesting characters. Leading the array of stars lending their voices is Jay Baruchel as Hiccup, a wimpy Viking kid who rejects the ways of his people to side with their enemy, dragons. Will he die with them or will he mediate the greatest peace agreement of all time? I won’t say, but be sure to wear fire-retardant gear.

CHLOE
In a quasi remake to the French film “Nathalie,” Julianne Moore plays a wife who suspects her husband (Liam Neeson) is cheating on her. So she does the only rational thing she can think of: she hires a doe-eyed baby prostitute (Amanda Seyfried) to test his fidelity. Atom Egoyan (“The Sweet Hereafter”) directs.

GREENBERG
Ben Stiller attempts a more droll type of comedy in the latest flick from Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale”) about a self-loathing, narcissistic ex-mental patient who comes to L.A. from New York to baby-sit his brothers house in the Hollywood Hills. Humor and romance allegedly ensue when Stiller’s Roger Greenberg hooks up with his sibling’s young assistant (Greta Gerwig).

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE
Three buddies (John Cusack, Rob Corddry and Craig Robinson) staying at a ski resort dip their toes into a hot tub and instantly step back into the 1980s. No word yet from “Back to the Future” writer-director Roger Zemeckis, but you can expect a copyright infringement suit any day.

MID-AUGUST LUNCH
At age 60, Gianni Di Gregorio, best known for co-writing the gangster masterpiece, “Gomorrah,” takes his first stab at directing with this heartfelt tale about a cash-strapped man who is forced to take in three elderly borders to make ends meet.